Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-11-04
ALCOHOL.
Pernicious Effects OF the Poison Upon the
Human System.

human system.
1t was long step in advance when steps
were taken in many States to teach in the
public schools the effects of alcohol and
otner narcotic polsons upon the human
system, says the Toledo Blade. The
subject is frightful. While the terrible re-
suits are acknowledged which follow the
drinking of what are known colloquially az
hard" drinks-distilled liquors, such as
WHISKY, brandy, gin, etc.-there is popu-
Lar belief that it is only from drinking
them to excess, and that in more moderate
Quantities they are comparatively harmless;
while the error is well nigh universal that
soft" drinks-wine, beer, ale. etc.-are
not only not injurious, but heaIthful and
nourishing.
Inere never was greater error. No
matter what form of rum is used-whether
the drink be "hard or SOFT" whether it be
VINE or fermented cider or beer-the real
reason 1t IS swallowed is because of the
exhllarating effects which follow. These
effects are caused BY the alcohol which
they contain. In cider and the various
wines there are fruit acids, etc., which inn
part taste which is agreeable to some:
out, all the same, alcohol is the active
agent, and were it removed entirely from
these compounds no one would think of
drinking the nauseous slops that would re
main. Now, what is this alcohol, whose
subtle influence causes all spirituous, vim
GUS or malt liquors to be drunk?
Alcohol is limpid, colorless liquid, of
NOT, pungent taste, which can only be OBJ
tanned by the fermentation of sugar or
some substance containing sugar. It is not
produced In nature: Neither the grape, the
apple. nor any other fruit; neither rye.
corn, barley, OF any other grain, contains
one atom of it. But when the fruit-cel
of the grape or the apple are crushed, and
the Juice extracted, chemical process,
called fermentation, sets up, whereby the
sugar in these juices is split up into alco
hol and carbonic acid, the latter escapinp
as gas. When barley, or rye, or corn is
fermented the starch which they contain is
first turned, BY an analogous process, into
sugar, and then alcohol produced, by a
continuation Of the process, from the sugar.
In its effects upon the human system,
alcohol is narcotic poison. 1t is not a
food, in any respect. 1t is indigestible. 1t
cannot be built into bone or tissue. The
only thing the body can do with alcohol is
to get rid of it. tits largely thrown off by
the lungs, as any one can believe who has
come within smelling distance of the
drinker. 1t passes through the skin, and
works its way to every part of the body,
and portion Of 1t pnsnv, 70 inc hrain de-
ranging the action Of that organ and pro-
ducing species Of insanity. When the
alcohol reaches the brain, of course it is
closely shut in, and as it cannot pass rap
idly through the skull, it is more likely to
remain in the brain than in any other part
OF the body, and here it does its most
deadly work.
The brain, when healthy, is so soft that
it would not retain its shape but for the
skull. The sharpest knife is required to
cut without mangling its structure. It is
necessary to immense the organ in alcohol
for sometime in order to harden it when
careful examination is essential. A drunk
ard g brain presents contrast. It is already
hardened, picked almost. In the dissect-
lng-room it affords rare pleasure to med
lcal student to secure the dissected brain
of an old topper. A celebrated anatomist
said that he could tell a drunkard's brain in
the dark BY the sense of touch alone. A
London physician reported case in which
animation, SO strong an odor of alcohol
emanating from the brain that he applied
match to it, when it burst into a flame.
The quantity of alcohol in the brain is
sometimes SO great that it can be collected
by distillation after death.
It must not be supposed that every
drunkard's brain is as hard as picked
one; but it may be fairly supposed that the
hardening effect of alcohol has no little in
fuence in the production of degeneration
of the brain, such as results in various
forms of progressive paralysis. Numerous
functional disorders of the brain are also
traced directly to the habitual use of
alcoholic liquors. Locomotor ataxia, an
almost hopeless malady, involving the
brain and spinal cord, is very often the
result of intemperance.
When alcohol is taken into the stomach,
it is absorbed and goes unchanged into the
circulation. The heart, irritated by its
presence, beats faster, and drives the blood
more quickly through the arteries. Every
excretoly organ Immediately sets to work
to expel it from the system. The lungs
and skin have already been spoken of; and
the livers and kidneys are no less actively
engaged in getting rid of the internal stuff.
The effect on the liver is to produce, after
considerable time, an incurable disease
cirrhosis--or, as it is commonly known,
"hob-nail liver" from the peculiar appear
ance of that organ after death. The kid
neys are weakened and inhamed, and
Brights disease, an absolutely incurable
ailment, always fatal, is result of intem-
perance.